Articles: low-back-pain.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2007
Usefulness of pain distribution pattern assessment in decision-making for the patients with lumbar zygapophyseal and sacroiliac joint arthropathy.
There are currently no initial guides for the diagnosis of somatic referred pain of lumbar zygapophyseal joint (LZJ) or sacroiliac joint (SIJ). We developed a classification system of LZJ and SIJ pain, the ''pain distribution pattern template (PDPT)'' depending on the pain distribution patterns from a pool of 200 patients whose spinal pain source was confirmed. We prospectively applied the PDPT to determine its contribution to clinical decision-making for 419 patients whose pain was presumed to arise from the LZJs (259 patients) or SIJs (160 patients). ⋯ Diagnostic reliabilities were significantly higher in Type A and C patterns in LZJ and Type C in SIJ arthropathies, 64%, 80%, and 68.4%, respectively. For both LZJ and SIJ arthropathies, favorable outcome after radiofrequency (RF) neurotomies was similar to the rate of positive responses to diagnostic blocks in Type A to Type D, whereas the outcome was unpredictable in those with undetermined type (Type E). Considering the paucity of currently available diagnostic methods for LZJ and SIJ arthropathies, PDPT is useful in clinical decision- making as well as in predicting the treatment outcome.
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Lumbosciatica is a common condition which is associated with significant pain and disability. The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of interlaminar epidural corticosteroid infiltration in the treatment of lumbosciatic pain. We evaluated retrospectively sixty patients with lumbosciatic pain that a sequential interlaminar epidural administration of 40 mg methylprednisolone in 7 mL bupivacaine 0.25% was administered. ⋯ However, only the patients with a low grade of disability showed an improvement after the treatment (p<0.05). No side effects were reported after epidural corticosteroid injections. In conclusion, interlaminar epidural corticosteroid injection in association with local anesthetic may be useful, at least for six months, as additional therapy of the conservative management of lumbosciatic pain.
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Revista de neurologia · Dec 2007
[Ziconotide: an innovative alternative for intense chronic neuropathic pain].
Intense chronic pain is a very important health problem, as it has a high prevalence (5-10%), a multifactorial aetiology and its management is very often a very complex affair. Treatment of severe cases sometimes requires interventional approaches, such as continuous intrathecal infusion of opioids. ⋯ Ziconotide is the first specific neuronal blocker that acts on the calcium channel by blocking the N-type voltage-dependent calcium channels. It is a new non-opioid analgesic with approved indication in the treatment of intense chronic pain, in patients who require intrathecal analgesics and are refractory to other analgesic treatments. Therefore, we shall have to consider this drug as a therapeutic alternative in patients do not experience sufficient relief with the pharmacological agents and means currently available to treat them.
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Review Case Reports
Development of scoliosis following intrathecally placed opioid pump for chronic low back pain.
Case report. ⋯ Although there may not be a direct correlation between implantation of an intrathecal opioid pump with subsequent development of adult onset scoliosis, deformity must be considered a potential sequela in patients treated with such neuromodulation.